This study examined the coevolution of prosocial and aggressive popularity norms with popularity hierarchy (asymmetries in students' popularity). Cross-lagged-panel analyses were conducted on 2,843 secondary school students (N[subscript classrooms] = 120; M[subscript age] = 13.18; 51.3% girls). Popularity hierarchy predicted relative change in…

This study examined how peer relationships (i.e., sociometric and perceived popularity) and teacher--child relationships (i.e., support and conflict) impact one another throughout late childhood. The sample included 586 children (46% boys), followed annually from Grades 4 to 6 (Mage.wave1 = 9.26 years). Autoregressive cross-lagged modeling was…

Adolescents are often resistant to interventions that reduce aggression in children. At the same time, they are developing stronger beliefs in the fixed nature of personal characteristics, particularly aggression. The present intervention addressed these beliefs. A randomized field experiment with a diverse sample of Grades 9 and 10 students (ages…

This study examined pre- and postconflict data from 84 children, ages 3-7 years, living in Kibera, Kenya, during the December 2007 political conflict. Results indicate that children's disaster experiences (home destruction, death of a parent, parent and child harm) are associated with adjustment difficulties and that emotion regulation is an…

This meta-analytic review of 148 studies on child and adolescent direct and indirect aggression examined the magnitude of gender differences, intercorrelations between forms, and associations with maladjustment. Results confirmed prior findings of gender differences (favoring boys) in direct aggression and trivial gender differences in indirect…

Kindergarten children and adults were shown slides with an accompanying taped soundtrack which portrayed reciprocal and nonreciprocal aggressive and prosocial interactions. Following each episode, subjects' evaluations of the actor and their attributions concerning the cause of his behavior were obtained. (Author/JMB)

This study investigates associations between social skills (aggression and prosocial behavior) and literacy achievement in a sample of low-income children (between 4 and 6 years old when the study began) during elementary school. Results revealed consistent associations between social skills and literacy achievement in the first, third, and fifth…

Group status was examined as a moderator of peer group socialization of deviant, aggressive, and prosocial behavior. In the fall and 3 months later, preadolescents and early adolescents provided self-reported scores for deviant behavior and group membership, and peer nominations for overt and relational aggression, prosocial behavior, and social…

Examined 245 third- through sixth-graders' relational aggression, overt aggression, prosocial behavior, and social adjustment at three points during the academic year. Found that individual differences in relational aggression were relatively stable over time, and that relational aggression and prosocial behavior contributed to the prediction of…

Three kinds of prosocial behavior (helping, sharing, and comforting) were studied in experimental and natural settings, in 108 children ages 3 to 7 1/2. (BRT)

Results from this study confirmed the hypotheses that child rearing styles characterized by acceptance, a nonauthoritarian approach to punishment, and identification of the child with the parent related to high levels of adult ego development 22 years later. (PCB)

The relation of amount of adult-directed activity to children's social, play, and task behaviors was examined for 141 children in 13 Head Start classes. (JMB)

Thirty-six pairs of mixed-sex siblings were observed for two 1-hour periods in their homes. The younger siblings averaged 20 months of age and the interval between siblings was either large or small. Results are compared with a previous study of same-sex sibling interaction. (Author/RH)

Examined individual differences among third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade children (N=59) in the tendency to remember and utilize dispositional as opposed to situational information in predicting and explaining the behavior of story characters. (JMB)

Assessments of parent and sibling attachments were made when the firstborn child of a two-child family was one, three, and six years old. Sibling conflict and aggression were related to maternal conflict with both children at six years. Affectionate fathering was associated with prosocial sibling interaction. (BC)